


A Change of Heart

by lavender_mage



Series: Of Things Noble and Otherwise [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Mentor/Protégé, Mild Blood/Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 13:09:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12211926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavender_mage/pseuds/lavender_mage
Summary: Zara helps Lydia with a matter, and in doing so learns a hard lesson about being a mage.





	A Change of Heart

            “Pass me that towel, Zara,” Senior Enchanter Lydia instructed.

            Fourteen-year-old Zara Trevelyan did as she was told, trying to ignore the pained groans and screams coming from the mage on the cot. She knew the woman, had seen her in the dining hall and sometimes in the library. Her name was Esther, a low-level enchanter who’d been at the Ostwick Circle for nearly eleven years.

            _Poor woman,_ she thought sadly.

            Esther had the unfortunate luck of being pregnant, a fate no mage _ever_ wanted to consider. Especially now, with three Templars (including the Knight-Commander) standing at the ready a few feet away.

            Lydia’s voice broke through her reverie. “The baby’s crowning. Push, Esther!”

            The woman gave a keening wail, hands clawing at the rough-spun sheets. Her hair was plastered to her neck and forehead from sweat, her face as red as a tomato.

            “Help me grab the child,” Lydia muttered and Zara was at her side in an instant, hands at the ready to grab the newborn.

            Blood didn’t scare Zara, not anymore now that she’d gained some level of experience as a healer. (Among other reasons.) So when the child slipped into their arms with a wet squelching noise, squalling and shaking its tiny fists all while covered in a thick layer of gore, she didn’t even bat an eye. Lydia passed the babe to her, wrapped in the towel, and she moved to the table where they’d set a basin filled with lukewarm water. As she began to clean it of the blood, she heard Esther and Lydia talking.

            “What is it?” Esther asked, voice hoarse from yelling.

            “A girl,” Lydia replied. “As healthy as can be.”

            Zara returned her attention to the babe. She gently washed it with a soft cloth, supporting its head with her other hand. It… _She_ continued to wail and fuss.

            “Hush, little one,” Zara murmured. “I need to clean you and I can’t do that when you’re flailing your fists at me.”

            Sadly, she didn’t listen and continued to cry.

            A few minutes later, once Zara had cleaned her of all the blood and viscera, she wrapped her in a blanket like Lydia had shown her and walked over to the cot. “Would you like to hold her?” she asked, holding out the squirming babe.

            Esther glanced nervously between her, the babe, Lydia, and the Templars. Slowly, she reached out and took her from Zara, holding her close to her breast. Zara tried to pretend she didn’t see the pain flash through Lydia’s eyes.

            “Oh look at you,” Esther murmured, fingers brushing at the babe’s soft downy hair as her eyes filled with tears.

            Lydia put an arm around Zara’s shoulders, guiding her to the side. Zara could feel the magic around her pulling taught along with her muscles as one of the Templars walked over to the cot, clanking as he went.

            “Enchanter, if you please,” the Knight-Commander said, gesturing to the Templar beside the cot.

            Panic flashed in Esther’s doe-brown eyes. “I-I…” she stammered. “P-please, ser, I—!”

            The Knight-Commander sighed and gave a curt nod to the Templar, who reached down and grabbed the child. Esther screamed, the babe screamed. But the mage was too weak to put up much of a fight, and the Templar took the babe from her. The poor dear squalled and screamed at being torn from her mother, fists flailing once again.

            Zara felt a lump form in her throat, every ounce of her being aching to take the babe from the man. Lydia must have sensed her rage, because she tightened her hold on her shoulders in a silent plea for restraint.

            The Knight-Commander nodded, giving a glance to Lydia in thanks and apology at the same time. Lydia nodded.

            The Templars left with the babe, the room quiet save for Esther’s sobs.

            Lydia released her shoulders. “Go back to the dorms, Zara,” she murmured. “Rest. I will speak with you later.”

* * *

 

            But Zara couldn’t ease her thoughts and rest upon returning to the apprentices’ quarters. She sat at the edge of her bunk, several apprentices snoring around her, as her thoughts swirling in an endless barrage.

            It hadn’t been that long since she’d been brought to the Circle, only a mere ten months. Not that long ago she’d been the youngest daughter of one of the most powerful families in the Free Marches. She’d been destined to follow the same path as the rest of her family, to marry well and produce heirs to some great family and extend the Trevelyan line. But that day in the garden had forever altered her path. It hadn’t been until she saw the Templars take Esther’s baby that she truly realized what had been taken from her.

            Soft footsteps and the steady _clunk_ of a walking cane approached. “You should be resting, young one.”

            Zara shrugged. “I can’t shut out the thought of Esther.”

            Lydia sat beside her on the cot and nodded, hands folded over the knotted top of her cane. “You never realized what you had until it was gone, hmm?”

            “My siblings have that choice,” she muttered. “My cousins, too. But I’ll never be able to choose a family because of what I am.” She looked up at the elder mage, fighting back tears. “I didn’t want this.”

            Lydia sighed and gave a brief nod. “None of us did, child. But we cannot change our nature. We can only make do with the hand we are dealt.”

            “I can’t be a true healer if that’s what I have to face,” she said. “I can’t keep handing babies to those… those _monsters_ and look myself in the mirror every day.” She looked up at her mentor. “Is that wrong?”

            “Of course not,” she replied. “What I must do is not for the faint of heart. You are strong, Zara, but perhaps your strengths lie elsewhere in the field. Senior Enchanter Henri tells me you are skilled in alchemy. Perhaps you might combine the two? I still have Lyam as an apprentice so I will not go without. And I will stand with you as your mentor no matter your choice.”

            Though her eyes were still filled with tears, Zara managed a small smile.


End file.
